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Business Reporter

Zimbabwe’s milk output rose by 17 percent to 9,52 million litres in January 2024 from 8,14 million litres in the comparative period last year as investments made by the sector contribute to production.

Latest figures from the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development’s Dairy Services Department show that the country’s milk intake by processors went up 16 percent in the first month of 2024 to 8,75 million litres from 7,53 million litres previously.

Players in the country’s dairy sector have robust plans and initiatives to transform the sector in line with the Livestock Growth Plan, which seeks to grow the industry to US$1,9 billion by 2025.

The livestock growth plan is part of the Agriculture Food Systems Transformation strategy, which seeks to achieve a US$8,2 billion agriculture economy by 2025 to ensure the attainment of Vision 2030.

Funding for the projects under the growth plan is being raised through collaborative efforts between the public and private sectors as well as development partners.

According to the statistics, retail milk production, however, surged by 26 percent from 609 577 litres in the same period in 2023 to 770 553 litres.

January milk output at 9,52 million litres was marginally up from 9,5 million litres recorded in December 2023.

The collaboration between producers and processors seems to have yielded fruitful results in boosting milk production for sale in January 2024.

The Government has often challenged players in the dairy sector to complement its efforts to reduce feedstock cost, which continuously impacts viability as it accounts for over 65 percent of total milk production.

Lands, Agriculture, Water, and Rural Development Minister Dr Anxious Masuka recently is on record saying the Government has robust plans for growing the dairy sector, anchored on three aspects.

“The major challenges for the sector are feed, which accounts for more than 65 percent of the cost, and in some establishments, feed costs can be up to 85 percent of production, therefore impacting the viability of the individual dairy farmer and the industry as a whole,” he said.

He said the Government planned to increase farmers’ business viability through increased farm feed production and feed formulation and by providing support for irrigation, mechanisation, and pasture development.

According to players in the sector, uncompetitive stock feed prices on the domestic market cause Zimbabwe to have the highest cost of raw milk at US$0,66 per litre compared to its regional counterparts.

The price of raw milk in South Africa ranges from US$0,35/l to US$0,37/l, while that in Zambia costs US$0,33/l to US$0,35/l.

The uncompetitive prices of stock feed have resulted in low milk yields per cow as farmers compromise on feed mixes to become viable.

Dr Masuka said that the Government’s focus included achieving vertical growth, which entails increasing milk production per cow, continuous importation of improved genetics and facilitating own farm feed production.

According to the Minister, the transformation of the agricultural sector commenced with the launch of the Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Strategy in 2020.